This is emphatically false. Oakland's got four players with offensive WAR over 3.6, one of which is a whopping 6.6. In fact, every one of their everyday lineup has a positive WAR. So on top of being above average to significantly above average offensively (fourth most runs score in ALL of baseball), they also play really good defense.

As for San Fran...it would be harder to get four Chris Sale's in your rotation than it is to build a complete team. San Fran shouldn't be seen as the rule.

Oakland walked almost 50% more times than the Sox did. That's astonishing. they also hit far more homers, doubles and triples. The only area where we were reasonably close is total hits. All their guys walks. No Alexis or Viciedos consistently swinging at balls in the dirt on that team.
I know he's a bad word around these parts, but I'd try to get Chris Young on the cheap as a stop gap CF. He can field, has some power and takes some walks, and should have a better season than he did this year. We're going to have to makes some moves like that to stabilize for the future.

Chris Sale
Quintana
A. Garcia
Semien
Johnson
Webb
Santiago
Another team paying Peavy
Another team paying Rios
Just one more year (or less) of paying Dunn

__________________"I have the ultimate respect for White Sox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Red Sox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country." Jim Caple, ESPN (January 12, 2011)

"We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the (bleeding) obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." — George Orwell

ERA and saves aren't subjective? For pete's sake, one is at the discretion of the official scorekeeper.

I'll try again since you don't understand. WAR is computed using different formulas by different people. ERA and saves for a player does not vary by which source you use.
Besides scorekeepers,obviously every umpire call is even subjective. But once it is finalized it becomes part of the record.

I'll try again since you don't understand. WAR is computed using different formulas by different people. ERA and saves for a player does not vary by which source you use.
Besides scorekeepers,obviously every umpire call is even subjective. But once it is finalized it becomes part of the record.

Yes, I am aware that there are different formulas for WAR, I've looked at them and I personally prefer the one that B-R uses.

If we're "competitive" in 2015, it'll be because we've built another 82 win stinker. Not because we built from a lasting core.

Not necessarily. Considering the financial flexibility we'll have the next two years plus the already solid starting staff, I think we would be able to put a good team together. The responsibility of course will fall on Hahn to spend the money wisely and make some solid picks.

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March 16, 2005 - Another happy Sox fan joins the party!
July 6, 2012 - 7 years later he's still part of it...

I know he's a bad word around these parts, but I'd try to get Chris Young on the cheap as a stop gap CF. He can field, has some power and takes some walks, and should have a better season than he did this year. We're going to have to makes some moves like that to stabilize for the future.

Why would that stabilize us? We already have a cheap CF who is basically the same hitter, with a little less power and a little more OBP. Considering we are very unlikely to compete in 2014, we should concentrate on player development and keep very far away from lost cause veterans.

Not necessarily. Considering the financial flexibility we'll have the next two years plus the already solid starting staff, I think we would be able to put a good team together. The responsibility of course will fall on Hahn to spend the money wisely and make some solid picks.

If Quintana and Santiago are for real, they're getting big bucks in in arbitration in 2015 and beyond. With Danks and Sale already making a ton, that's gonna be a ton of flexibility gone just for four players. Yeah, they're the rotation, but it's not ideal considering the route you're talking about involves heavy investment of the bulk of our available resources for 21 other players. It just doesn't add up, unless we're spending between 150 and 200 million dollars.